Executive Order 14180 establishes a comprehensive review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), citing what the order characterizes as severe deficiencies in the agency's disaster response capabilities. The order presents FEMA as fundamentally broken, claiming that despite allocating nearly $30 billion in disaster aid annually for the past three years, the agency has failed to provide timely support to disaster victims. The order explicitly alleges political bias within FEMA, referencing a claim from a former responder about directions to avoid homes of Trump supporters. Additionally, the order contends that FEMA has strayed from its core mission by diverting resources to immigration matters, which the order describes as spending "well over a billion dollars to welcome illegal aliens."
The order creates a Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council consisting of up to 20 members, including the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense (who will serve as Co-Chairs), other agency heads, and non-federal experts in disaster relief, emergency preparedness, natural disasters, federal-state relationships, and budget management. This Council is directed to produce a comprehensive report within 180 days of its first public meeting (which must occur within 90 days of the order). The report must assess FEMA's response to disasters over the previous four years, compare FEMA's performance to state, local, and private sector responses, examine historical approaches to disaster relief, evaluate whether FEMA should function more as a support agency to states rather than supplanting state control, and analyze various reform proposals.
Implementation responsibilities primarily fall to the Department of Homeland Security, which must provide funding and administrative support for the Council. The order requires the Council to solicit input from a broad range of stakeholders, including disaster-affected Americans, researchers, private sector entities, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations. The Council will advise the President through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Assistant for Homeland Security, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Unless extended by the President, the Council will terminate one year after the order's issuance. The executive order frames this review as essential to restoring FEMA's ability to provide "immediate, effective, and impartial response" to disasters, suggesting significant structural reforms may follow based on the Council's recommendations.